Chicago Food: More supermarkets do not mean healthy food for all

Chicago is well known for its food culture, from Harold’s Fried Chicken to deep dish pizza to ‘Chicago-style’ hot dogs. It is difficult to spend time in this Midwestern city without spotting a sausage stand and developing a fondness for the many uniquely Windy City fried delicacies. Yet for many residents of the third largest city in the U.S., particularly those who live in low-income, largely segregated neighborhoods, it can be particularly difficult to find or afford healthy foods—namely, fresh vegetables, fruit, breads, grains and unprocessed meats. A new study demonstrates that food access remains an increasingly significant challenge in Chicago, even after years of prioritized investment in supermarkets across the city.

New research by Marynia Kolak, Daniel Block and Myles Wolf reveals longitudinal disparities in food access, with persistently low-access areas concentrated in majority low-income, black-populated areas on the south and west sides. Their data confirmed that the city’s policies designed to reduce food insecurity largely overlooked low-income, segregated communities who would benefit most from improved access to healthy foods. Using population data and spatial analysis, Kolak, Block and Wolf determined that from 2007 to 2014, despite the total number of supermarkets increasing city-wide, food deserts persisted. Low-income, majority-black and Latinx neighborhoods lacked sufficient access to healthy foods, and several neighborhoods became even further restricted.

This point is often overlooked when considering city-wide statistics on supermarkets. While the number of full-service grocery stores across Chicago increased by 20 percent from 2007 to 2014—a good outcome for Chicago residents on average—not all residents benefited equally. Supermarket growth occurred in some areas, but not others. The research identified a similar trend in the average distance from residences to supermarkets. While average distance decreased, the number of outlier areas furthest away actually increased. The maximum distance rose from 2.5 miles to 3.4 miles, suggesting that those who already faced significant access hurdles were facing worse circumstances in 2014 than they were seven years prior.

The researchers also collected and analyzed food access data across race, ethnicity, income and education levels. Kolak, Block and Wolf mapped out Chicago census tracts by levels of food access, ranging from “persistently low” to “persistently high.” The census tracts with persistently low access were predominantly black (78 percent), low median income ($31,000) and high unemployment (9.0 percent), located mostly on the south and west sides of the city. The tracts with persistently high food access were predominantly white (64.7 percent), high median income ($58,000) and lowest rate of unemployment (5.6 percent), located mostly downtown and on the north side. These statistics demonstrate that the growth in supermarkets across Chicago did not benefit populations already facing significant economic hurdles and low levels of food access.

The report also discusses the economic and food access impact of the 2013 shuttering of the Dominick’s grocery chain. Originally founded as a Chicago-based, family-owned business in 1918, Dominick’s was acquired by Safeway in the 1990s and was known for its cheap prices and wide variety of products. Safeway’s decision to close Dominick’s reshaped the grocery market in Chicago. While many former Dominick’s stores eventually re-opened, most were located in neighborhoods that already had nearby grocery options—so called “food desert islands.” Furthermore, many reopened as high-end outposts such as Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, catering to a middle- and upper-class clientele. The only Dominick’s location to remain closed as of 2014 was located in the persistently low food-access zone on the south side. The Dominick’s closings (and subsequent supermarket re-openings) reveal disparities in policy approaches to food access across the city.

As Chicago pursues its stated goal of ending food deserts by 2020, its policies and programs can be a model for other major cities pursuing economic development and food access. Efforts to reduce food access disparities should be informed by data that accounts for structural inequities in the way people access food and supermarkets, such as in transportation, affordability, and local tastes and preferences. In Chicago, while food access has improved or stayed high for many high-income neighborhoods, persistently low-access areas still face significant barriers and are overwhelmingly located in low-income, segregated, majority-black and Latinx neighborhoods. Policy solutions must go beyond city-wide food access initiatives and instead specifically target persistently low-access areas identified by supermarket and population data across income, race and access to transportation. Without targeted investment, residents who could benefit the most from a neighborhood grocery store will continue to struggle to get to and afford fresh, healthy foods, and cities like Chicago will continue to see widening food access disparities.

Article source: Block, Daniel, Marynia Kolak, and Myles Wolf. “Urban foodscape trends: Disparities in healthy food access in Chicago, 2007–2014.” Health and Place Vol 52. (July 2018): 321-329.

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